Integrated Approach of Environment and Modern Ecological Economy to Promote Sustainable Land Use and Sustainable Regional Development

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Environmental and Policy Impact Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 22782

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: environmental economics; systems approach; urbanization and ecological environment interaction; socio-economic-natural complex ecosystem; environmental planning and management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: ecological economics; industrial ecology; environmental footprints; planetary boundaries; environmental sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The economic activities of human society have brought great influence to the environment from different scales, from local to global, and the environment also plays a role in either limiting or driving economic activities. The correlation and evaluation of the two has long been a concern of the scientific community, with increasing attentions. As a new economic development model, the ecological economy can realize economic growth while saving resources and protecting environment. Therefore, the development of ecological economy is the core and important focus of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, because the sustainable use of resources and environmental quality are linked to almost all facets of human well-being. It is very urgent and important to study the relationship between ecological economy and environment, to evaluate the comprehensive benefits of the ecological economy, and to scientifically quantify the environmental impact of ecological economy, all of which can provide a scientific basis and practical guidance for the implementation of sustainable development.

This Special Issue focuses on the integration of the environment and the modern ecological economy, including but not limited to an evaluation of the environmental benefits of ecological economy, a quantitative analysis of the environmental impact of eco-economic development, and an exploration of the mutual relationship and mechanism between environment and ecological economy, so as to promote sustainable land use and sustainable regional development.

  • Socioeconomic vulnerability to environmental deterioration
  • Natural resources and environmental values evaluation
  • Quantitative analysis of ecological environment damage
  • Green monetary policy
  • The interaction mechanism between economy and environment
  • Policy for developing ecological economy
  • Integrating the environment into economic systems models
  • Innovated economic solutions to environmental problems
  • Ecological constraints and equity

Dr. Yupeng Fan
Dr. Kai Fang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental values
  • eco-industrial development
  • natural capital accounting
  • socio-ecological models
  • systems approach
  • ecological agriculture
  • economic ecologization
  • green development
  • integrated development

Published Papers (12 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 16755 KiB  
Article
The Impacts of Land Use Spatial Form Changes on Carbon Emissions in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau from 2000 to 2020: A Case Study of the Lhasa Metropolitan Area
by Meimei Wang, Dezhen Kong, Jinhuang Mao, Weijing Ma and Ramamoorthy Ayyamperumal
Land 2023, 12(1), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010122 - 30 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1255
Abstract
The ecological contribution of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has received considerable attention as a result of the increased focus on global climate change and the continuous growth of carbon emissions in all countries. In this study, we proposed a method and measured the carbon [...] Read more.
The ecological contribution of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has received considerable attention as a result of the increased focus on global climate change and the continuous growth of carbon emissions in all countries. In this study, we proposed a method and measured the carbon emissions from land use in the Lhasa metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020, based on image interpretation data, by exploiting corrected carbon emission factors in different land types from the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. We studied the impact of construction land form on carbon emissions using the spatial lag model (SLM) and the spatial error model (SEM), and the results show that the Lhasa metropolitan area’s carbon emissions showed an overall increasing trend from 2000 to 2020, with the characteristics of “slow acceleration–slight deceleration–acceleration”, with a deceleration period from 2005 to 2015. As a result, the construction land has a relatively low capacity, but it constitutes about 90% of all emissions; moreover, carbon emissions from cultivated land cover about 9%. The rate of spatial expansion of carbon emissions from land use is significantly slower in the Lhasa metropolitan area, yet the spatial expansion of carbon emissions has a clear direction and increases in the north and west of Lhasa. The carbon emissions from land use in the Lhasa metropolitan area is characterized by “one core, many points, and multiple belts” in spatial distribution. The changing of spatial forms of construction land has a significant impact on carbon emissions. Finally, we depicted the impact logic of land use pattern on carbon emissions and provided policy and management recommendations that were both feasible and reasonable. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 2088 KiB  
Article
Coupling Efficiency Assessment of Food–Energy–Water (FEW) Nexus Based on Urban Resource Consumption towards Economic Development: The Case of Shenzhen Megacity, China
by Chaofan Xian, Shuo Yang, Yupeng Fan, Haotong Wu and Cheng Gong
Land 2022, 11(10), 1783; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101783 - 13 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1187
Abstract
The population aggregation and economic development caused by urbanization significantly influence the efficiency of urban resource consumption. However, the coupling interactions between crucial resource consumptions such as food, energy and water (FEW) and urbanization processes within highly urbanized areas has not been well-studied. [...] Read more.
The population aggregation and economic development caused by urbanization significantly influence the efficiency of urban resource consumption. However, the coupling interactions between crucial resource consumptions such as food, energy and water (FEW) and urbanization processes within highly urbanized areas has not been well-studied. In this study, we constructed an assessment framework for the coupling efficiency measurement of FEW resource consumptions in 10 administrative districts across Shenzhen megacity during 2012–2020, based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA). This study demonstrated that, from the perspective of the FEW nexus, increasing efficiencies in the energy consumption of most districts improved the municipal FEW efficiency, while more than half of the districts did not achieve water resource efficiencies throughout the period. Concerning regional economic development, 80% of the districts improved coupling FEW efficiencies by 2020, the average values of which were higher for Yantian, Nanshan, Luohu and Dapeng, and lower for Baoan, Longgang and Guangming, with a downtrend only being observed in Guangming. Overall, the value of the coupling FEW efficiency of Shenzhen megacity rose by 35% from 2012 to 2020. Correlation analysis showed that synergistic effects of efficient resource consumption occurred in most districts, and economic urbanization was the main driving factor of regional FEW efficiencies within Shenzhen megacity. This study provides instructive insights into the status of urban resource consumption and suggests that the coordination of FEW management should be further improved by fiscal intervention to maintain economic development with the limited resources available, which would have valuable implications for synergistic FEW governance in megacities in China and elsewhere. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3070 KiB  
Article
The Net Spatio-Temporal Impact of the International Tourism Is-Land Strategy on the Ecosystem Service Value of Hainan Island: A Counterfactual Analysis
by Miao Guan and Changsheng Xiong
Land 2022, 11(10), 1694; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101694 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1322
Abstract
The strategy of building an international tourism island in Hainan is an important national strategic deployment, with tourism as the core, integrating a series of issues such as industry, tropical agriculture, and urban-rural relations. The implementation of this strategy profoundly affects the evolution [...] Read more.
The strategy of building an international tourism island in Hainan is an important national strategic deployment, with tourism as the core, integrating a series of issues such as industry, tropical agriculture, and urban-rural relations. The implementation of this strategy profoundly affects the evolution of local land use patterns and ecosystems on Hainan Island. This paper utilizes a counterfactual analysis framework and Cellular Automata (CA)-Markov model based on the current land use data of Hainan Island for the three periods of 1999, 2008 and 2017. Accordingly, the spatial and temporal conditions of ecosystem service values (ESV) in 2017, under the assumed scenario of unimplemented international tourism island strategy, were simulated. The net spatial and temporal impacts of the international tourism island construction strategy on the value of ecosystem services on Hainan Island were finally assessed. The results are as follows. First, the total value of ESV in Hainan Island in 1999, 2008 and 2017 were 33.88 billion yuan, 56.045 billion yuan and 50.417 billion yuan respectively showing a trend of first increasing and then decreasing; spatially, the ESV were high in the central region and low in the surrounding areas. Second, in the simulated scenario without the implementation of the international tourism island construction strategy in 2017, the total ESV of Hainan Island was 54.19 billion yuan. Third, the implementation of the international tourism island policy reduced the ESV by 3773 million yuan, and the impact of this policy was high in coastal areas and low inland. There was an obvious divergence between the positive and negative effects. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1402 KiB  
Article
Informal Institutions and Herders’ Grazing Intensity Reduction Behavior: Evidence from Pastoral Areas in China
by Lijia Wang, Zeng Tang, Qisheng Feng and Xin Wang
Land 2022, 11(9), 1398; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091398 - 25 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1463
Abstract
Overgrazing is the key factor that has exacerbated grassland degradation in China’s pastoral regions. Herder’s grazing-based livestock production behavior becomes important to grassland conservation. Several formal environmental institutions and policies exist to improve grassland degradation; however, there remain contradicting conclusions regarding the contribution [...] Read more.
Overgrazing is the key factor that has exacerbated grassland degradation in China’s pastoral regions. Herder’s grazing-based livestock production behavior becomes important to grassland conservation. Several formal environmental institutions and policies exist to improve grassland degradation; however, there remain contradicting conclusions regarding the contribution of these policies. Informal institutions become major instruments that might encourage herder’s behavior on overgrazing. Using village rules and conventions (VRC) as a proxy for informal institutions, the article attempts to scrutinize whether the VRC emerge to respond to herders’ willingness to reduce grazing intensity for grassland conservation and elicit factors affecting their reduction behavior using a Double-Hurdle model. Based on a survey of 193 respondents in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Autonomous regions of China, the empirical results provide evidence that VRC is effective in reducing herders’ grazing intensity. In detail, the VRC in written form and an unchanging context within five years could significantly improve herders’ willingness to reduce grazing intensity. Herders who consider the VRC as an important impact to their livestock production observe an increased reduction degree of grazing intensity. Additionally, variables referring to herder’s education and religious belief play a significant role in the reduction degree of grazing intensity. Our findings highlight the importance of VRC in controlling herders’ overgrazing behavior. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1345 KiB  
Article
Identifying Primary Drivers of Participants from Various Socioeconomic Backgrounds to Choose National Forest Lands in the Southeastern Region of the US as a Travel Destination for Recreation
by Rosny Jean, Kozma Naka, Colmore S. Christian, Buddhi Raj Gyawali, Troy Bowman and Sampson Hopkinson
Land 2022, 11(8), 1301; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081301 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1366
Abstract
Growing demand for National Forests (NFs) recreational activities makes it crucial to understand the attitudes towards valuing public recreational resources and the potential conflicts with other functions of the forests. The study was conducted to identify the primary drivers influencing individual participation in [...] Read more.
Growing demand for National Forests (NFs) recreational activities makes it crucial to understand the attitudes towards valuing public recreational resources and the potential conflicts with other functions of the forests. The study was conducted to identify the primary drivers influencing individual participation in outdoor recreation on NF lands in the southeastern region of the US among participants of various socioeconomic backgrounds. The study was based on the 2010–2014 dataset of fourteen NFs across thirteen states in the Southeastern USA—retrieved from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Different statistical models and statistical analyses were utilized for the study. The statistical results revealed that individual needs for relaxation were the main driver for participation in forest recreation for the whole sample and pulled data (approximately 52% of the participants). It has been noted that the drivers varied depending on the forest. The personal need for mental development was the least valued driver with only 2%. Some significant differences were observed by gender, age category, and income level. The study results have practical importance for different stakeholders such as tourism operators, the USDA Forest Service, and local authorities. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2959 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Spatial Adaptability of Gross Ecosystem Production, Gross Domestic Production, and Population Density in Chinese Mainland
by Zheng Zang, Qilong Ren and Yuqing Zhang
Land 2022, 11(8), 1295; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081295 - 11 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1050
Abstract
As China is currently in a critical period of transition to green development, a quantitative analysis of the coupled synergy between economic growth, population migration, and environmental protection performance can provide a rational reference for the formulation of macro-policies in relevant regions. Based [...] Read more.
As China is currently in a critical period of transition to green development, a quantitative analysis of the coupled synergy between economic growth, population migration, and environmental protection performance can provide a rational reference for the formulation of macro-policies in relevant regions. Based on these objectives, this study built a matching analysis framework between gross domestic production (GDP) density (GD), population density (PD), and gross ecosystem production (GEP) density (ED) to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of these three indicators among 362 municipal units in different regions of the Chinese Mainland from 2000 to 2020 based on satellite remote sensing images and statistical data. The spatial adaptability between them was explored by employing a center-of-gravity model. The findings of this study show that: (1) the GD, PD, and ED on the Chinese Mainland exhibited varying degrees of spatial heterogeneity on both sides of the Hu Line during the investigation period, with the general feature of being higher in the southeastern region and lower in the northwestern region; (2) the centers of gravity of GD, PD, and ED were all located in Hubei Province during the investigation period. The centers of gravity of PD and GD shifted 79.39 km and 109.72 km to the southwest, respectively, whereas the center of gravity of ED, remained relatively stable during the investigation period; and (3) the center of gravity distances between PD–GD, ED–PD, and ED–GD in 2020 were 99.31 km, 247.52 km, and 346.27 km, respectively, and the percentages of highly matched units ranked among the 362 samples were 72.93%, 23.48%, and 25.69% for GD–PD, GD–ED, and ED–PD, respectively. This study concluded that a synergistic spatial pattern of the population, economic layout, and land use on the Chinese Mainland has not yet been formed. Therefore, this study suggests that future policies should be committed to promoting the northwest Chinese Mainland movement of the center of gravity of GD and PD, as well as the southeast movement of the ED center. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2801 KiB  
Article
Spatial and Temporal Changes of Urban Built-Up Area in the Yellow River Basin from Nighttime Light Data
by Jingxu Wang, Shike Qiu, Jun Du, Shengwang Meng, Chao Wang, Fei Teng and Yangyang Liu
Land 2022, 11(7), 1067; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11071067 - 13 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2356
Abstract
Nighttime light (NTL) images obtained by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) mounted on the National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) could objectively represent human activities and instantly identify urban shapes on a temporal and spatial scale. From 2013 to 2020, the built-up areas of [...] Read more.
Nighttime light (NTL) images obtained by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) mounted on the National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) could objectively represent human activities and instantly identify urban shapes on a temporal and spatial scale. From 2013 to 2020, the built-up areas of eight provincial capital cities were extracted using NPP/VIIRS NTL data to examine the dynamic changes in city expansion and socioeconomic development in the Yellow River Basin during the urbanization process. The spatial characteristics of urban built-up area expansion were generated using the eight-quadrant analysis method and combined with the statistical data of population and (gross domestic product) GDP to analyze the correlations between the light intensity of built-up areas, population and GDP; this enables an understanding of the changes in population and economy in the development of urban built-up area expansion. The findings show that: (1) unbalanced city development existed in the Yellow River Basin’s upper, middle, and lower reaches, and the expansion and light intensity of cities in the upper reaches were slower than those in the middle and lower reaches; (2) the spatial differentiation of urban expansion was significant between each of the reaches in the Yellow River Basin, and greatly influenced by natural geographical elements; and (3) positive correlation exists between light intensity, population, and GDP in the built-up areas of the middle and lower reaches, while the correlations in the upper reaches were not stable. In conclusion, light data indirectly reflects urban development and could be used as a substitute variable for socioeconomic development indicators under certain conditions. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3019 KiB  
Article
Mitigated Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Cropping Systems by Organic Fertilizer and Tillage Management
by Huarui Gong, Jing Li, Zhen Liu, Yitao Zhang, Ruixing Hou and Zhu Ouyang
Land 2022, 11(7), 1026; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11071026 - 06 Jul 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2397
Abstract
Cultivating ecological benefits in agricultural systems through greenhouse gas emission reduction will offer extra economic benefits for farmers. The reported studies confirmed that organic fertilizer application could promote soil carbon sequestration and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions under suitable tillage practices in a short [...] Read more.
Cultivating ecological benefits in agricultural systems through greenhouse gas emission reduction will offer extra economic benefits for farmers. The reported studies confirmed that organic fertilizer application could promote soil carbon sequestration and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions under suitable tillage practices in a short period of time. Here, a field experiment was conducted using a two-factor randomized block design (organic fertilizers and tillage practices) with five treatments. The results showed that the application of microbial fertilizers conserved soil heat and moisture, thereby significantly reducing CO2 emissions (6.9–18.9%) and those of N2O and CH4 fluxes during corn seasons, compared with chemical fertilizer application. Although deep tillage increased total CO2 emissions by 4.9–37.7%, it had no significant effect on N2O and CH4 emissions. Application of microbial organic fertilizer increased corn yield by 21.5%, but it had little effect on the yield of wheat. Overall, application of microbial fertilizers significantly reduced soil GHG emission and concurrently increased yield under various tillage practices in a short space of time. With this, it was critical that microbial fertilizer be carefully studied for application in wheat–corn cropping systems. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 2845 KiB  
Article
Performance and Obstacle Tracking to Qilian Mountains’ Ecological Resettlement Project: A Case Study on the Theory of Public Value
by Ya Wang and Lihua Zhou
Land 2022, 11(6), 910; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060910 - 15 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1612
Abstract
In Gansu Province, China, Wuwei City is an ecologically fragile migration area at the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Mongolia-New Plateau. Using the Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS method and the obstacle factor diagnostic model, the implementation performance and follow-up [...] Read more.
In Gansu Province, China, Wuwei City is an ecologically fragile migration area at the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Mongolia-New Plateau. Using the Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS method and the obstacle factor diagnostic model, the implementation performance and follow-up support issues of the Ecological Resettlement Project were analyzed from the perspective of the eco-migrant and the public value theory. In contrast to traditional performance appraisal methods, Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS breaks through the ambiguity of complex environments and subjective information and effectively quantifies the fuzziness of evaluator language variables to improve the validity. The overall performance of the Ecological Resettlement Project in Wuwei is good; the average closeness degree of process is higher than outcome. Migrants rated the fairness of the project as the highest, followed by support, economic outcome, and satisfaction. Gulang County’s performance in the Ecological Resettlement Project is the best, followed by Tianzhu County and Liangzhou District. Project obstacles were mostly related to the outcome dimension, especially the ecological restoration and management, the return to poverty risk, and industrial development on the resettlement site. The main obstacle to the process dimension is migrant satisfaction with government subsidies. Research results provide case study support and experience inspiration for migrant relocation models and their long-term livelihood improvement in the context of rural revitalization. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 10383 KiB  
Article
The Spatiotemporal Evolution and Prediction of Carbon Storage: A Case Study of Urban Agglomeration in China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region
by Yingting He, Chuyu Xia, Zhuang Shao and Jing Zhao
Land 2022, 11(6), 858; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060858 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2325
Abstract
Due to rapid urban expansion, urban agglomerations face enormous challenges on their way to carbon neutrality. Regarding China’s urban agglomerations, 25% of the land contains 75% of the population, and all types of land are used efficiently and intensively. However, few studies have [...] Read more.
Due to rapid urban expansion, urban agglomerations face enormous challenges on their way to carbon neutrality. Regarding China’s urban agglomerations, 25% of the land contains 75% of the population, and all types of land are used efficiently and intensively. However, few studies have explored the spatiotemporal link between changes in land use and land cover (LULC) and carbon storage. In this work, the carbon storage changes from 1990 to 2020 were estimated using the InVEST model in China’s Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region. By coupling the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model and InVEST model, the LULC and carbon storage changes in the BTH region in 2035 and 2050 under the natural evolution scenario (NES), economic priority scenario (EPS), ecological conservation scenario (ECS), and coordinated development scenario (CDS). Finally, the spatial autocorrelation analysis of regional carbon storage was developed for future zoning management. The results revealed the following: (1) the carbon storage in the BTH region exhibited a cumulative loss of 3.5 × 107 Mg from 1990 to 2020, and the carbon loss was serious between 2000 and 2010 due to rapid urbanization. (2) Excluding the ECS, the other three scenarios showed continued expansion of construction land. Under the EPS, the carbon storage was found to have the lowest value, which decreased to 16.05 × 108 Mg in 2035 and only 15.38 × 108 Mg in 2050; under the ECS, the carbon storage was predicted to reach the highest value, 18.22 × 108 Mg and 19.00 × 108 Mg, respectively; the CDS exhibited a similar trend as the NES, but the carbon storage was found to increase. (3) The carbon storage under the four scenarios was found to have a certain degree of similarity in terms of its spatial distribution; the high-value areas were found to be clustered in the northwestern part of Beijing and the northern and western parts of Hebei. As for the number of areas with high carbon storage, the ECS was found to be the most abundant, followed by the CDS, and the EPS was found to be the least. The findings of this study can help the BTH region implement the “dual carbon” target and provide a leading example for other urban agglomerations. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2942 KiB  
Article
PAHs Source Identification in Sediments and Surrounding Soils of Poyang Lake in China Using Non-Negative Matrix Factorization Analysis
by Chunli Chen, Huiqing Zeng, Xiaofeng Gong, Jing Li and Lingqing Wang
Land 2022, 11(6), 843; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060843 - 04 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1458
Abstract
Identifying sources of soil and sediment PAHs and apportioning their contributions are key in building effective pollution abatement strategies, especially for Poyang Lake—the largest freshwater lake in China. PAHs were detected in all the monitored soil and sediment samples under three land use [...] Read more.
Identifying sources of soil and sediment PAHs and apportioning their contributions are key in building effective pollution abatement strategies, especially for Poyang Lake—the largest freshwater lake in China. PAHs were detected in all the monitored soil and sediment samples under three land use types, with the concentrations varying by area, ranging from moderate to relatively high. The order of PAHs content in different the land use types was as follows: industrial soil > grassland soil > agricultural soil. Although agricultural soil was dominated by LMW PAHs, industrial grassland soils were dominated by HMW PAHs. Based on factor analysis, non-negative matrix factorization analysis was effective in non-negative constrained skew rotation, especially for clear and interpretable source analysis of PAHs. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3832 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Gross Ecosystem Product—Gross Domestic Product Synergistic States, Evolutionary Process, and Their Regional Contribution to the Chinese Mainland
by Zheng Zang, Yuqing Zhang and Xu Xi
Land 2022, 11(5), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11050732 - 12 May 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2964
Abstract
The trade-off and synergy relationship between ecosystem services (ESs) and human well-being (HWb) in the land-use process has become a research hotspot. The evolutionary process and regional contribution of the accurate quantification of ESs and HWb can provide a reference for government departments [...] Read more.
The trade-off and synergy relationship between ecosystem services (ESs) and human well-being (HWb) in the land-use process has become a research hotspot. The evolutionary process and regional contribution of the accurate quantification of ESs and HWb can provide a reference for government departments to formulate macroeconomic policies. Therefore, this study first constructed an analysis framework to identify the synergistic states/evolutionary stages of the gross ecosystem product (GEP) per capita (PGEP) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (PGDP) and the regional contribution of the GEP–GDP synergy of 362 municipal units in mainland China from 2000 to 2015. We did this by employing the Markov transition probability matrix, land use data, and economic data based on satellite remote sensing images. The findings of this study show that (1) the PGEP of the Chinese mainland has a remarkable spatial divergence featuring a higher value in the northwestern Chinese mainland and a lower value in the southeastern Chinese mainland on both sides of the Hu Line during the investigation period; despite the eastern Chinese mainland having a higher PGDP, the PGDP at the national level is distributed in dispersion on both sides of the Hu Line; (2) during the first half of the investigation period, the GEP–GDP synergy in the Chinese mainland was generally in the pseudo-synergy stage or the transition stage from pseudo-synergy to primary/intermediate synergy, while in the second half of the period, the GEP–GDP synergy in the Chinese mainland continued to improve; (3) the GEP–GDP synergy was relatively stable on the Chinese mainland during the investigation period, with 24.28% of the units shifting to a lower or higher level synergy, and the GEP–GDP synergy was more stable in the western and central Chinese mainland, while it was more likely to shift to a higher state in the northeastern and eastern Chinese mainland. This study suggests that the GEP–GDP relationship varies with spatial scales; a hierarchical, multiscale approach is necessary to study and improve both of these relationships, as simply extrapolating policies across single administrative levels may lead to unintended outcomes. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop